Treadwell and Gillibrand, still in agreement

Sandy Treadwell issued the following statement after the House passed the financial rescue/bail out bill, despite Kirsten Gillibrand’s vote against it. Treadwell is also opposed to the bill, but doesn’t pass up the opportunity to sneak in a little criticism of the congresswoman. “A bad bailout bill on Monday has not miraculously become a good bill just four days later. This remains a seriously flawed bill that should never have passed in its current form. “The problem is the priorities of this Congress. Instead of working day and night to craft a good bill, they instead chose to make a few slight revisions, claim victory, and go home. That’s not what we elected its members to do, but as we saw when they took a five-week summer vacation, this Congress puts self-promotion ahead of good policy. “I am also appalled that Congressional leaders chose to add on some critical programs, like alternative energy tax credits, as well as some wasteful pork projects that were meant to win the support of individual legislators, solely to promote the passage of this bad bill. The original plan proposed by Secretary Paulson was so far off-track that it should have been tossed out completely. But this Congress, including members who opposed the original bill and should have kept fighting to improve it, preferred to go home to campaign instead of working to develop a viable economic recovery plan. “The foundation of this bailout plan was flawed and even some welcome additions like expanding FDIC limits didn’t strengthen it enough. Taxpayers deserve better, but once again, this Congress failed to deliver.”